Why I Can Never Be Too Happy...

Hahaha..it's been rather too long my friends! I was pleasantly happy to see that at the least some people, well....3 people, including my sister, noticed my absence. And to those a thank you and a my style curtsy. So why I can never be too happy? I have often wondered this for a long time now but with no satisfying explanation. Of course there a those easily conceivable notions , but nothing concrete and definitely not one single reason I propose. This is why I bring this question into the blogging realm.

I am a pretty simple person. Nothing too complicated or fancy about myself or my life. To be sure, this is not to say that my life has been uneventful. I had my share of consequential happenings over the years. Yet, like everything else in life, time has abated all things good and bad. So that's why I don't point to any single happening in my life to my diluted happiness. But rather, I question my own happiness when I compare it to those that are outright and visibly happy. Sometimes annoyingly happy. These people get excited about the littlest things in life. I mean, yes I appreciate the smaller and finer things in life too. But that doesn't mean I give a little yelp or smile open mouthed EVERY TIME I pass a rack of roses, or a cutesy teddy bear. And I also don't get excited or even remotely perky if I drive by a place where one of my friend or relative lives, and point it out giddily to whoever that happens to be with me. Sure, sometimes it's worth noting to someone else. And even may feel a bit excitement IF IT WAS THE FIRST TIME I PASSED BY. But to rejoice on it every time I pass by? I highly doubt it! But this is me. And this is where I question my (lack of) happiness.

I have 2 people in my life that get easily happy and/or excited by very small happenings, coincidences or tangible materials. Their gaiety is noticeable and sometimes even loud and irritating. For a soft spoken, and reserved person like myself (and that's by popular count), it can be very damaging to the ear drums, not to mention my sanity. Just to give you an image. If I was to be standing next to one of those 2 people, and it was announced over the PA that the movie we were both equally anticipating is being released next week, you would definitely notice her, because she will be the louder, the most excited and the chirpier one. And might even say ' oh my god shalini, oh my god!!! I cant' believe it. We have to go!!! We have to go!!! I am soooo EXCITED!!!". So my question is....does this mean she is more excited/happy about the movie than me? But whhhyyyy? I AM HAPPY TOO. I don't know how to show it (or think I have to), but I AM. I swear. And here lies my dilemma. If I was to show my excitement, this would have to be a conscious effort on my part, and that take a lot of mental work. OR I can simply choose to be myself, appreciate life, and dwell in my own happiness. And yes sometimes this passive approach can be often passed off as unfriendliness, grumpiness, and sometimes even jealousy. But I choose to be true to myself. Because faking happiness and excitement is not my cup of tea. Nor am I that pretentious for it to come so naturally. It's just who I am. This, of course by no way indicates that the other person 'fakes' it either. That's just who they are. I know this because I had this conversation with one of the 2 people. She, for most part, IS genuinely happy and excited about small matters. Do I wish I can be that way? Yes, sometimes. But does this mean I am dead inside? Of course not. I AM excited about the camping trip in May. I AM excited about my pay cheque this Thursday. I AM very happy to know that Ageesh is in the finals of Super Singer 2009. So it's not like I lack Serotonin. Maybe my friends just have a little more....

Does this mean I should worry and question myself about why I can never be too happy? No, I definitely hope not.

Movie of February: Arangetra Velai

It is always a great feeling to watch a classic tamil movie. This month I am recommending 'Arangetra Velai' starring Prabhu, Revathy, Janagaraj and V.K Ramaswamy. Directed by Fazil, this slightly dark comedic movie is one of my all time favourties. Prabhu and Revathy were at the prime of their career during this time (1990), and their bickering as supposed enemies is very enjoyable to watch. I have always smiled to myself whenever watching this movie as it reminds me of a time long ago of care free innocence and lastingness. And not to mention, this movie features the beautiful song Agaiya Vennilave Arangetra Vellaithano by Illayarajah.

The movie begins with Prabhu coming to the city to work for a company his dad had previously worked at until his untimely death. Back in those days in India, it was common practice for young adults to inherit among other things, the jobs of their parents as well. Most companies had this as a policy. However, due to some misunderstandings (very funny ones by the way) the company turns down his employment offer and he is now forced to live in the city until he solves this issue. In the meantime, he rents out a room at V.K Ramaswamy's house, but really is a theatre company too. The fun and frolic begins the moment the movie begins, but it is only after the entry of Revathy does it become a laughing riot of sort. It is a movie of many genres, but two most prevailing ones are comedy and mystery. I hope you will enjoy it as much as I did again this month.

Lose Weight in 3:34 minutes!

I came across this video while searching for a tamil drama that I wanted to start watching called "Kana Kannum Kalangal'. Of all good and important things to share in this world, forgive me for sharing this with you today. Totally unrelated, this was on the website's most viewed video section and no wonder it was! Initially I thought this video iis going to break down the process of losing weight in relation to a woman's anatomy. And since I'm always looking for the most practical and by that I mean easiest and cheapest way to lose weight, I clicked play and bore witness to the illusions of our lives. If the 'master' can accomplish this with a chubby chum like the girl in this video, I can only imagine the possibilities that lie ahead for me....(*shalini laughs here).  

Anyone interested to take a course in photoshop with me?!

Naan Kadavul, I AM GOD.

Disclaimer: I am attempting to write this post, knowing completely well that I will not do justice to this captivating movie. You can only truly experience it yourself.  

I have been anticipating the release of Naan Kadvul for quiet some time now. It was publicly announced that Bala's forthcoming movie after the stupendous success of Pithamagan, would be titled Naan Kadavul. This was 3 years ago. After much production and financial controversies, Naan Kadavul has finally arrived at the silver screens. And thank Kadavul it did! There were two important reasons why I was anticipating its release. One. Director Bala of course. He gave me Sethu, Nandha and Pithamagan. I had greatly appreciated all 3 movies for their simple and straight forward story telling, top notch performances and awesome direction. Two. Arya. Arya's first tamil movie was Ullam Ketkume, in which he did a pretty decent job. But it wasn't until Arinthum Ariyamulum that I took notice. And now, I was looking forward to Arya's performance in a Bala film, as we all know what Bala did for Vikram's and Surya's career.

So when Naan Kadavul was finally released at Woodside Theatre I was in high spirits. I caught the 7:30 show with a friend. She herself was very excited too as Arya, in her own words 'is the hottest tamil actor ever', and also like me, she was a serious fan of Bala's work. And although I had read one review for the movie beforehand, both of us didn't have any inkling to the storyline however. Which by the way I believe is the best way to watch any movie, and especially this movie. With that being said, I can't give away much about the story, except that it will first gently touch, then abruptly scorch your heart. I have watched MANY movies that brought tears to my eyes, but ONLY Naan Kadavul made me want to bawl, kick and scream all at once. I was ready to cry out 'why God why' right there inside the movie theatre. The perpetual emotions of guilt, remorse, sadness, and anger are far entrenching and become exhausting by the end of the movie. Yet, this is a movie that we must ALL brave through, as it depicts life in its most brutal and realistic facet.

I don't know Director Bala's intentions in making this film. Was he questioning the existence of God? or was he simply exposing the hardships of people often forgotten by our society? So many questions I would ask him given the chance. And so many discussions that can begin by carefully exploring the themes of this movie. But like everything else that is good and complicated, I am afraid that this too will be forgotten perhaps. You may question whether you should be watching any movie in such troubling times like today. Rest assured however that you don't have to worry about this when watching Naan Kadavul. It was absolutely okay for you to skip out on Vijay's Villu and Simbu's Silambattam. But, when a movie like Naan Kadvul comes your way, please stop and take notice. Naan Kadavul was more than a movie for me, it was an experience and like my friend said to me 'it was a reality check'. After watching this movie, my only hope for you (and for myself too) is that we will never again complain or cry for the merely passing dark clouds of our lives....

I Want My Money Back, Tim Horton's!

It wasn't the first time, BUT it sure was funny this time around....well at least to me. I know others (*cough) will simply email me to exclaim my obvious stupidity. And to those I say, I am well aware, thank you!

It takes me exactly 25 minutes to get to work on any good day. To be at work at eleven, I leave my house at 10:35, not one minute earlier. (This little bit of information by the way was not in any particular way important to the story). Today I left my house 5 minutes earlier than usual to grab a chicken salad sandwich from Tim Horton's. If you haven't tried their chicken salad, I suggest you do. It's cheap and damn tasty. Mmmmmm. Anywyas, so I made a pit stop at the Midland and Steels timmy's and waited patiently at their drive-thru for some 3 cars to pass. During this wait, my mind started drifting off as it usually does when I'm idling. I started thinking about buying my sandwich, driving to work and then opening the wrapping only to find that the sandwich wasn't the chicken salad I'd ordered! I started pondering my options then. I could take a bite now and then in the morning I would drive back to the same timmy's, return the sandwich and demand....who am I kidding..... I meant ask for a refund (this will clearly indicate I don't want their business). Or I can simply eat the alternate sandwich they did give me, in which case they will never know they made a mistake.....hmm....and what if they put too much sugar, it's one thing to have little sugar, but when it's too much......what will I do I pondered on.....

"Welcome to Tim Horton's, may I take your order?"a voice came over the microphone. "Yes, ummm can I please have the chicken salad sandwich and a large double double. Thank you". I grabbed a twenty from my bag and headed for the drive-thru window where (of course) a Tamil lady waited with my coffee and sandwich. I grabbed the coffee first, gave the 20, then grabbed the sandwich and drove off. YES, I drove off!!! That's right, without my change!!! Worst part, I didn't realize I had done this tilll I had driven another good 15 mintues. I had been so preoccupied by pondering their possible mistakes, that I wasn't even anticipating to make my own stupid one. Now what to do...? If I turn back, I'd be really late for work. If I don't, I just gave away 15 mighty dollars as tip. Will they still give it back if I go in the morning and tell them my mistake? but what if the lady who served me left for the night? The more I thought, the further I was driving off...AND I'm in no way wealthy by anyone's standard to bypass 20 dollars for a coffee and sandwich. All these thoughts, so little time. I ended up pulling a u-turn. It wasn't much of a u-turn, as it was a few left turns and then some right turns, but within another 20 minutes I was back at the drive-thru. "Welcome to Tim Horton's, may I take your order?"umm..Yes....I think I forgot to get my change..", "sorry, can you pleaes repeat your order?" "no,..I don't want to order anything, but I left my money here by mistake"..."please repeat one more time"..."my money...i left it here!!!"......"okay ma'am. I will have to ask you to order at the window". CRAP.

As I drove up feeling very childishly embarrassed I see that the same lady is at the window again. Just then I hoped they didn't interpret my silliness, as a 300% bound gratuity for themselves, which I will have to take away now. I smile awkwardly. "Hi..umm..I think I forgot to get my change from before?". She looks at me funny. I'm still smiling. "What did you buy?" she utters. I quickly point to the sandwich bag and coffee next to me, and say "a chicken salad, with toasted whole wheat bread and a large double double coffee, and I gave you a twenty dollar bill. I also asked you for extra sugar?", reasoning that the more details I give her the more legitimate my claim will be. But she simply goes away, comes back with my change, hands it over with no good nights or buh-byes. And yes, I was late for work too. It didn't' bother me the slightest bit though, I just got my money back! Hurray for Shalini! Wow, who knew placing an order at Tim Horton's will involve such anecdotes.

Hate 'em suckers!

This is a post about why I hate guys, or should I say boys. I hate all guys! Exception to this premise is of course my dad, brother, boyfriend, brother-in-law, some uncles and very few other guys that I actually like. And oh yea, please include Vijay too in this list. He is still cute. Well....you get the point right? I pretty much hate guys that are mean, cruel, dumb and ugly! Yes, they are all ugly, because to me, if a guy has no personality, no kindness at heart, he IS ugly. And I think a lot of girls will agree with that statement, because ultimately it's the guy's personality that draws us to them. Notice I said ultimately, because I am well aware of our weakness too.

Boys are a peculiar creature. They taunt us when we are children and have been destined to break our hearts when we love them. Every girl in her lifetime must have had her heart broken at least once by a stupid little guy. This is okay, that boy can be forgiven. Love is not love if it wasn't bitter sweet at best of times. And of course the saying 'it is better to have loved and lost than to have never loved at all' is the mantra of romantics everywhere. But what boggles my mind, is the fact that men, cause they are flippin' old men now, (again, by old I mean guys in their late 20s or early 30s) still find ways to break our hearts! After years of maturing, and novel life experiences, is it so hard to be honest and true to the person you claim to like? Why would any guy get into a relationship, especially that too with a tamil girl and not have the balls to commit? As girls we are inherently emotional and have good faith in love. That's why when we love a guy, we love him truly and completely. And to top that, we are Tamil! We want to marry the first guy we go out with!!! And for any guy to dismiss that as anything else, is an A#$! These slime dogs will take advantage of such girls, and not think twice about it. I know today those guys might think they got what they wanted, and might even believe they are happy, but a life of guilt and pettiness awaits them.

And oh yea....Happy Valentine's Day everyone. I'm sorry that everyone else had to read this post. You know how it is, sometimes you just have to expose those that cheat and lie. By the way, if anyone is thinking I wrote this in a fleat of anger against my boyfriend....lol....you are mistaken, I still love him very much!

Why You Should Watch Poo!

Here is the challenge. I'm going to try to get you to watch a tamil movie called 'Poo' (flower) by the time you finish reading this post. Most likely I will fail to get everyone reading to watch it, but if only one person decides to watch it, I would surely pat my back. If you are like me, you like tamil movies. Period. Yes there are plenty of pitiful story lines, ever more pathetic heroes and condemnable logic in all fight scenes, but at the end of the day, tamil movies are still greattttttt. It's only natural that I like tamil movies. I grew up watching all of them, singing their songs and not to mention that it always brought my family together in one room. It's the tamil movie industry that gave us Varusham 16, Mouna Ragam, Thalapathy, Sethu, 16 Vayathiniale, Manathil Urudhi Vendum, Bombay, Mahanathy and Chinna Thambi. All of which I highly recommend by the way, and which you should definitely watch at one point in time. And of course, there are hundreds more that I can not possibly list. Hey wait a minute...that gives me an idea. I think I will begin to add a segment to my blog where I'd recommend older tamil movies. Kind of like a service by a tamil movie enthusiast (me) for the inevitably insensible canadian-tamil youth of tomorrow. lol. But it's true. I don't think the tamil kids of today (by kids I mean anyone younger than 23 like my brother) will appreciate or fathom older movies like we did. Yes my brother likes Thalapahty, but are they for the same reasons as mine? I highly doubt it. But one thing is for sure. Earlier movies all had meaningful, competent and engaging storylines, something that is rarely seen or encouraged in today's movies. Going back to my topic, so why should you watch Poo? It has a story. And if you have ever loved someone completely, yet with the innocence and possibility of childhood you would appreciate this movie ten fold over.

I will take careful steps not to spoil the movie if you read on...promise! The main character, Maree has always, as far back as she can remember, been heads over heels in love with her uncle's son, Thangarasu. Like a typical village belle, Maree is not educated, and spends her days working at a firecracker factory in their village, while Thangarasu goes onto finish engineering at an out of town university. Maree's longing to be with Thangarasu, and Thangarasu's inability to amount to his dad's expectation is the crux of the movie. Obvious differences and similarities between both characters' hopes and dreams are etched beautifully within the backgrounds of an eventual cultivation of true love. But from the first 10 minutes of the movie, you'd realize this is not your typical movie, nor your typical ending. This movie is simple, beautiful and straight to the point. No unnecessary comedy (the little comedy it has was actually funny here), no one man army fights, and not even lavish dance sequences. This is as uncomplicated and enjoyable a tamil love story can get at this time and age. Perhaps gone are those days of Mounna Raagam, but yet through movies like Poo we can certainly capture some of that magic. This is definitely a movie for the hopeless romantics in all of us, because sometimes being able to love someone completely is a gift on its own.

Random Thoughts to Start Again

With all the hustle and bustle of even my unregarded life, it is no easy task to keep blogging. In the last 2 weeks, without intending to, I had somehow managed to only focus on topics that was relevant to the raging war back home. And now that I have strayed,.... I don't know how to get back to what I was doing. This is the reason behind my delay in blogging for the past few days. I'm lost. My mind is lost for words. How does one blog about the plight of Tamils one day, and then continue to blog about Super Singer the next day. Will that make me a hypocrite? As much as I want to do everything, like I said before, it's not that I don't care, but my capacity to reach out is very much flawed. Would that be sufficient to become a judge of character? A lapse in compassion? I definitely hope not.

Many things go unnoticed in the background confusion of our existence. I still don't know how this war came to the forefronts of my life, but it did. It must have been the despicable comments posted by 'supposed' citizens of this world on the CBC website, and the meek conversations I must have heard at home between my parents that made me think twice about it. My blogging about anything related to the war was a mere personal outlet of guilt and helplessness. It was in no way an indicator of my partiality over other Tamils here in Canada. By some wanting on my part, I had the chance to go to 2 protests. I was awestruck by their solidarity and dedication. There were true champions among the crowds, and because of them, voices were heard. And I humbly salute them.

And on my part, I will try my best to appreciate and love all things that is good, and question those that is evil. My prayers will still continue, and with this being said I will soon find myself again.

The John Moore Show: Part One

John Moore: (of course bare in mind that he has a very strong husky domineering voice with plenty sarcastic undertones at most times)

"Supporters of Israel will often point to other situations in the world and say..okay, where is the outrage? And I think they definitely have a case as to what has been going on in Srilanka since 1948. But in the last couple of months the Srilankan government has effectively declared war on the Tamil Tigers, not that they haven't been at war since the 1970s. But they launched a campaign to drive the Tigers into a very thing wedge of land and to fight this to the end. And here is a quick history lesson, cause I realize, you know, not a lot of people have any idea what's going on. So I do this as a public service. Some body may accuse me of bias, but it's just to the best of my knowledge and the study over the last couple of years of the situation. The largest ethnic group of Srilanka comprises of the Sinhalese. They are about 80% of the population. There are various estimates about how many Tamils there are in the country. Figures of 5 and 10 % have been recorded in the past. But it's also instructive to note that since Srilanka gained independence about half of the Tamil population either left the country or have been killed. Tamil roots in Srilanka go back to ancient times but a large portion of the population was brought in from India by the British for cheap labours. So another colonial issue! But the hard-line amongst the majority population is that the Tamils have no business being in Srilanka at all. Why don’t' they go back to India. Sound familiar? Ya well, Palestinians, why don’t they just go back to Egypt and Jordon.

Srilanka gained Independence in 1948, and almost immediately the government ushered in laws that favoured the majority population and very soon it began to actively oppress the Tamils. Trying to suppress their language, suppress their culture. The hope was, and we tried this in Canada, we tried this with the natives, and the French speakers. It's been tried in many jurisdictions. The hope was the Tamils would say "screw this and if I really want to get ahead I'll just blend into the population and I will give up on my language and my culture and my kids will have a better future". Well, that didn't work and it didn't happen. Over the years, remember, this started in 48, the Tamils have been so beaten down, that they started to fight back like many groups do when they have been beaten down. This promoted the government, which routinely ranks as one of the most corrupt and one of the world's greatest human rights violators to crack down. They've been VERY successful branding the Tamil Tigers as terrorists, mostly because the Tamils have done some pretty terrible things! But bare in mind again, the world seems to love the Palestinians in spite of suicide bombings. The Tamils? Not so much.

The government has been engaged in an ongoing campaign to confine the Tamils to a certain geographical location. And they engage in and have since the 1970s in routine detention and torture and murder. Srilanka for example is one of the leaders in the world of enforced disappearances. That's known as, daddy goes outside, van picks up daddy, you never see daddy again. Shades of Panache? So in retaliation to the detention, torture, murder and disappearances, the Tamils have become more and more aggressive over the years. But because most people don’t' know what their complaint is, it has made it every easy for the Srilankan government to bran Tamil Tigers as merciless terrorists who bomb, kidnap, murder and who use child soldiers. AND they have done all of those things! The Srilankan government IS right now engaged in a systematic campaign to stamp out the tigers, this is a merciless military effort AND it is resulted in 100s of civilian casualties. AGAIN. The outrage at civilian casualties in Gaza. Where is the outrage here?I don't think I have to draw a real map or start doing tables, or pull down the big screen and pull at the pointer to illustrate there are tremendous comparisons between Israel and the Palestinians and Srilanka and the Tamils. But there is no....not only is there outrage, there is no INTEREST. Where is Sid Ryan on Srilanka? Where is OUR government on Srilanka? People would button hole the PM in a snap to ask him what he think of, or the foreign minister, to ask them what they of something happening in Palestine. But our government has not had to utter a whisper about what is going on.

I hope that gives you a bit of a map of what's going on and why at the very least, and you should note there are 200,000 thousand, because of the situation, there are lot of expatriate Tamils, and they're estimated to be 200,000 thousand right here in Toronto. Which is why the issue bubbles up. But they don’t get a lot of good publicity, because, given the record of the Tigers, who some people would see as resistance fighters, and others would see as trying to over throw the government. Now our government has joined others in branding the Tamil Tigers as a terrorist organization, and so they want to cut out the funding and they labeled the cause as illegitimate and any action they take as illegitimate."

"George is calling from Brampton.... "(to be cont'd).

A Public Service by John Moore

If John Moore, a white Canadian and a radio host at Newstalk 1010 CFRB from Toronto, can do a public service for the Tamil people, I think I can definitely do my little part too. I know most of us were notified of his pending discussion on our war, but how many really got the chance to listen to the brief, yet far-reaching broadcast? I am not sure, but I listened and also had it recorded it on an audio cassette. Lol, I can't even remember the last time I used a cassette player!The next day I tried to search for the broadcast online, so I can e-mail it to family and friends, but to no avail. Maybe my attempt was weak, in which case, if anyone reading this has an audio file of that particular show, please email me! Thank you!

The point was, I was naturally captivated by the show, but more so of the person behind the microphone. I didn't know there was a John Moore from CFRB prior to this show. Actually, I didn't know any John Moore! I didn't listen to CFRB, I only listened to 680 News and AM640 during my morning drives. But that has definitely changed now. Since the show aired last Thursday, I am slowly becoming an avid fan of their radio station. Any show discussing the war in our land has definite credibility, but it's candor towards Tamils should be heard by everyone. John Moore was right to have done this. I wish we had more people with character like him, and who can also speak like him, because it's his manner and tone of speech that made every sentence stand out on its own right. But the truth is, not many people in our Tamil community can be neutral to the situation in Srilanka. So I'm glad that a person like Moore, somehow someway, thought that he should speak his mind.

'...I do this as a public service' - John Moore, Newstalk CFRB 1010

John's public service was to the Canadian population. He wanted to educate the general public to the issues faced by Tamils in Srilanka. He did this by giving a brief history of Srilanka, some facts about the war, and a well presented parallel of our war to the Israel-Palestinian war. To be sure, I am not saying he supported the Tamil Tigers. Actually, at the beginning I was rather afraid of his attitude and his standoffish disposition, and thought he might in fact end up patronizing the Tamils. Yet, all this, combined with his discourse, ended up making the program a bona fide attempt at truth. Here is my public service to the tamil people. For those that unfortunately (yes it is unfortunate) missed his discussion, I have decided to transcribe his show in written format. I will write it to the best of it's originality, and just so you know, it is very time consuming, so I will have to break it up into 2 parts. If I am taking my time to write it, I kindly ask you to take yours to read it...

Speak up, and You Will be Heard

Mahatma Gandhi once said "You may never know what results come of your action, but if you do nothing there will be no result". How true those words ring true even today. Like I said, and anyone reading my blog would understand, I had been immensely confused as to my part as a Tamil Srilankan amidst everything that's been going wrong in Srilanka. I was one of the few fortunate ones, not to have had any direct grievances from either the Srilankan government OR the Tamil Tigers. And, I realize this is not the case for many other people, especially the generation before us, our parents and grandparents, who left Srilanka only after witnessing the atrocities from both sides. I also know, that while I was fleeted off to Germany at a young age, there were thousands of more children who stayed behind and ultimately faced the wrath of the Tigers or the Srilankan government, and sometimes, both.

Now, fast forward 20 years, and I am once again living among those children here in Canada, of course, today they are grown adults. Every one of them have their own legitimate and equally compelling reasons as to why they support the Tigers, and despise the Srilankan government, or, in some cases, fervently loathe both sides. I can not and will not argue with them, or even try to prentend to understand them, because I know that will be a slippery slope. Like I said, they have their reasons, and all the while I am dismally struggling to find mine. You would think that being impartial towards both sides (I know I'm Tamil, but I like to think that my education and compassion towards life itself will allow me to look past that) gives me the edge that one needs in accessing such situation objectively, but boy were you wrong. There is way too much information, and sadly, all available information is fuelled by hate and prejudice. And again, I was left alone to determine my loyalty.

As I was pondering my intentions, that's when news from back home had become impossible to ignore. That day I wrote my first blog about my feelings toward the situation, feeling helpless and ignorant at the same while, I knew I had to write. The following day, I heard the young man (whose name I still don't know) talk about the protest outside the Srilankan consulate on CMR 101.3 FM, that's when I knew I had to do something. At the least, I had to start reading on the subject. And that's what essentially prompted me to attend the mass Human chain protest in downtown Toronto on Friday. Frankly, I didn't go there because I wanted the Srilankan government to retreat. And I didn't go their to chant about LTTE either. Heck I didn't even go there to denounce the Srilankan government. But I knew one thing will be certain. Taking part in the rally will show solidarity and commitment among the Tamils. I also knew that every single person at the rally had their own reasons to be there that day braving the bitter cold weather. Whatever their reasons were, I know one single reason prevailed all others. And that was to bring a voice for the innocent people of Eelam.
                                                                                                             

Though the road ahead seems troubled, I am genuinely appreciative and much respectful of the volunteers who organized this momentous event, and who continue to tirelessly to do many more. WHATEVER any one's reason was for taking part that day, and regardless of the little annoyances we may have caused the commuters that night, it goes without saying YOU HAVE MADE A DIFFERENCE. And how do I know this you ask? ...when the war in Srilanka intensified beginning of this week, I failed to find a single decent news coverage from the media. Even when I did, it only left me feeling distressed to say the least. However, since the beginning of the protests in and around the city, every single news media covers the Srilankan war in some form or another. If you don't believe me? ...well you really should, 'cause I wouldn't lie, but just in case you don't, check out today's (01/02/09) Toronto Star, Citynews, and CBC's web portal, I didn't even have to go further than the front page to get coverage of our war. Except for CTV though, grrrrrr.

And as for Gandhi....he was right. Again!